1. Characterization of the split ends-like gene spenito reveals functional antagonism between SPOC family members during Drosophila eye development.
- Author
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Jemc J and Rebay I
- Subjects
- Amino Acid Sequence, Animals, Cell Survival, Conserved Sequence genetics, Drosophila Proteins chemistry, Drosophila Proteins genetics, Drosophila melanogaster anatomy & histology, Eye anatomy & histology, Eye cytology, Eye ultrastructure, Gene Expression, Homeodomain Proteins chemistry, Homeodomain Proteins genetics, Molecular Sequence Data, Nuclear Proteins chemistry, Nuclear Proteins genetics, Protein Structure, Tertiary, RNA-Binding Proteins, Drosophila Proteins metabolism, Drosophila melanogaster growth & development, Drosophila melanogaster metabolism, Eye growth & development, Homeodomain Proteins metabolism, Multigene Family genetics, Nuclear Proteins metabolism
- Abstract
The novel family of SPOC domain proteins is composed of broadly conserved nuclear factors that fall into two subclasses, termed large and small, based on protein size. Members of the large subgroup, which includes Drosophila SPEN and human SHARP, have been characterized as transcriptional corepressors acting downstream of a variety of essential cell signaling pathways, while those of the small subclass have remained largely unstudied. Since SPEN has been implicated in Drosophila eye development, and the small SPOC protein NITO is also expressed in the developing eye, we have used this context to perform a structure-function analysis of NITO and to examine the relationship between the two SPOC family subclasses. Our results demonstrate that the phenotypes obtained from overexpressing NITO share striking similarity to those associated with loss of spen. Dosage-sensitive genetic interactions further support a model of functional antagonism between NITO and SPEN during Drosophila eye development. These results suggest that large and small SPOC family proteins may have opposing functions in certain developmental contexts.
- Published
- 2006
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